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Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

Elyse Sherman, 31, of Detroit exchanges words with Mayor-elect Mike Duggan before he spoke Saturday at a town hall meeting at Detroit Unity Temple . Duggan talked about many issues and took 15 minutes answering questions from the audience. / Eric Seals/Detroit Free Press

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Days after winning election in a hard-fought campaign against Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon, Mike Duggan addressed a variety of questions from moderator Bankole Thompson, editor of the Michigan Chronicle, and from residents about the future of Detroit and how he plans to lead the city.

Duggan told several dozen people today at the Detroit Unity Temple on Second Avenuethat expectations of quick results are fair, but that realistically, measurable accomplishments will take time.

“We’re not going to get to the kind of city we want in six months,” Duggan said, but, “I expect in the first year I can deliver evidence of progress.”

Duggan said he has already had “very substantive” meetings with emergency manager Kevyn Orr about his role when he takes office. He noted that Orr and Gov. Rick Snyder have the authority to make decisions about remaking and running the city, and that at this point, his job is to persuade them to let him manage city operations.

Pointing to one of the fundamental challenges facing the city, Duggan said the mayor should be judged on one standard — whether the city’s population increases or continues its decades-long decline.

“Every single thing we do will be designed to reverse the population loss,” Duggan said.

He pointed to specific initiatives that could make life better for residents, such as creating an auto insurance company owned and operated by the city as a way of combating exorbitant insurance rates, as well as more general efforts to fight crime.

He noted that the police chief alone cannot change the culture of violence in the city, and that although he likes what Police Chief James Craig has done so far, Duggan said the chief does not have enough support from other city departments, as well as outside law enforcement agencies.

Throughout his comments and answers to questions, Duggan referred back to his tenure as CEO of the Detroit Medical Center for examples of how to remake an organization to make it more responsive.

When asked about prospects for regionalizing the city’s water department, Duggan noted, “I’m not in favor of giving away our assets,” which prompted a round of applause.

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Bebra Washington, 56, and her daughter, Kelli Owens, 27, both of northwest Detroit, expressed support for Duggan’s vision.

Owens said she wants to see retail businesses return to the city like her mother recalls from its heyday, something she believes Duggan will try to accomplish.

Washington, an AT&T retiree, said she is ready to help Duggan wherever she is needed.

“He wants volunteers. I want to volunteer,” Washington said.

But not everyone was as positive.

Harvey Armstrong, 77, who lives on the west side, said he sat in on the first part of the town hall, which included other speakers addressing the city’s past struggles and future possibilities, but avoided Duggan’s portion.

“I’ve heard it so many times,” Armstrong said of political promises. “(Duggan) can’t make no difference.”

Armstrong said he bases his pessimism on Duggan’s history in Ed McNamara’s Wayne County administration, which he compared to ethically challenged leadership in Detroit’s recent past. Duggan served as county deputy executive from 1987 until 2001.

A Free Press report at the time of McNamara’s death in 2006 indicated he left the office under “a cloud of suspicion in 2003 after FBI agents raided county offices barely a month before his term expired in search of documents about campaigning on county time and links between contractors and campaign cash.” He was never charged with a crime.

Others at Saturday’s event expressed optimism about Duggan and the potential of his administration.

The Rev. Sheila Cook, deputy director and chief operating officer of the Unity Urban Ministerial School and an east-side resident, suggested to Duggan during the question-and-answer portion of the town hall that he tap into senior citizens as he develops his plans. Cook said many of the same senior citizens who contributed to the city in years past would be able and willing to help out now. Duggan said he wants to put senior citizens to work for Detroit and noted that his campaign manager will be coordinating the talent available in the city.

Afterward, she referred to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s principles in how she would evaluate Duggan, who will become Detroit’s first white mayor in decades.

“Judge the man by the conduct of his character,” she said, noting that if Duggan turns out to be flawed like so many other politicians, the city will just have to seek out other leaders. “If he lives up to what he presents, thank God.”